Business Partner Closeup: Levi Morehouse of Ceterus

School is dreadful to a lot of students mostly because excitement isn’t a factor in the classroom. Students end up bored, falling asleep in class, and disengaged with their environment. This is hardly a productive way to learn, unless you want to learn how to drudge through life without any enthusiasm.

When you’re juiced about what you’re doing, you’re learning the most. You’re engaged in solving problems, and so are the people around you. Praxis places participants in fast-growing, exciting companies. We make sure that Praxis Business Partners create an engaging environment for the people who work with them.

Ceterus is a Charleston, SC based company that handles bookkeeping and reporting for small businesses and franchise owners. I recently had the chance to ask the founder, Levi Morehouse, a few questions about his story, company culture, and experience with Praxis. Here’s what he had to say:

Why did you start Ceterus?

“Entrepreneurs have always inspired me. I worked for small business entrepreneurs growing up, and as I got older my exposure to them grew, and with it my passion for what they do. I wanted to help them in some way, make their complex and busy lives easier and simpler, but I wasn’t sure how. While attending college I figured out that I loved accounting (yes, you read that right) and technology. While working at an accounting firm after college I had an idea. What if we could combine technology and accounting to empower entrepreneurs? What if we could build cloud-based, automated accounting technology to bring small business bookkeeping into the information age? What if we employed experts to use that software for the entrepreneurs?

I knew there were plenty of tools out there to help entrepreneurs do their books. But tools don’t solve a problem, they only help solve a problem. I wanted to solve the problem of bookkeeping for small business entrepreneurs. Not only that, I wanted to take it completely off their plates, and deliver it to them on time and in a way that would empower them to run their business better. I wanted to provide a solution to their problem – not just another tool.”

What is the company culture like?

“Ceterus is a results-driven company. It’s a place where independent people thrive, and our culture reflects that. Our team delivers results to our customers and to each other. At Ceterus, we’re less concerned about where and when you get work done. The important thing is that it’s done and done well.

Our employees thrive in this culture. They have autonomy to do their work on their terms, and to go the extra mile to deliver the best experience for our customers and each other.”

Why do you partner with Praxis?

“Praxis is a program I wish was around when I was growing up. Exposure to the inner workings of a startup company is experience that is valuable no matter what you choose to do in life, but especially if you’re passionate about entrepreneurship. I want to support entrepreneurial young people by giving them an opportunity at Ceterus.

Praxis also brings incredible value to my business. When a company is growing quickly, every single person you add to the team influences the company’s trajectory. Praxis participants are some of the highest quality young people out there, and we need all the great talent we can get.

There’s also nothing more valuable at a growing startup than people who can be flexible and handle different projects that come up. While most of the company should be made up of people who specialize in what they do, it’s always valuable to have people who are intelligent, eager to learn, and up for anything.

We couldn’t be happier with the value we’ve gotten from Praxis, and look forward to more participants in the future.”